Chapter 2 - Strategic Management of Stakeholder Relationships - Summary Stakeholders refer to those people and groups who have a “stake” in some aspect of a company’s products, operations, markets, industry, or outcomes. The relationship between organizations and their stakeholders is a two-way street. The historical assumption that the key objective of business is profit maximization led to the belief that business is accountable primarily to investors and others involved in the market and economic aspects of the organization. In the latter half of the twentieth century, perceptions of business accountability evolved to include both market constituencies that are directly involved and affected by the business purpose (e.g., investors, employees, customers, and other business partners) and non market constituencies that are not always directly tied to issues of profitability and performance (e.g., the general community, media, government, and special-interest groups). In the stakeholder model, relationships, investors, employees, and suppliers provide inputs for a company to benefit stakeholders. This approach assumes a relatively mechanistic, simplistic, and nonstakeholder view of business. The stakeholder model assumes a two-way relationship between the firm and a host of stakeholders. This approach recognizes additional stakeholders and acknowledges the two-way dialog and effects that exist with a firm’s internal and external environment. Primary stakeholders are fundamental to a company’s operations and survival and include shareholders and investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and public stakeholders, such as government and the community. Secondary stakeholders influence and/or are affected by the company but are neither engaged in transactions with the firm nor essential for its survival. As more firms conduct business overseas, they encounter the complexity of stakeholder issues and relationships in tandem with other business operations and decisions. Although general awareness of the concept of stakeholders is relatively high around the world, the importance of stakeholders varies from country to country. A stakeholder has power to the extent that it can gain access to coercive, utilitarian, or symbolic means to impose or communicate its views to the organization. Such power may be coercive, utilitarian, or symbolic. Legitimacy is the perception or belief that a stakeholder’s actions are proper, desirable, or appropriate within a given context. Stakeholders exercise greater pressures on managers and organizations when they stress the urgency of their claims. These attributes can change over time and context. The degree to which a firm understands and addresses stakeholder demands can be referred to as a stakeholder orientation. This orientation comprises three sets of activities: (1) the organization-wide generation of data about stakeholder groups and assessment of the firm’s effects on these groups, (2) the distribution of this information throughout the firm, and (3) the organization’s responsiveness as a whole to this intelligence. Reputation management is the process of building and sustaining a company’s good name and generating positive feedback from stakeholders. The process of reputation management involves the interaction of organizational identity (how the firm wants to be viewed), organizational image (how stakeholders initially perceive the firm), organizational performance (actual interaction between the company and stakeholders), and organizational reputation (the collective view of stakeholders after interactions with the company). Stakeholders will reassess their views of the company on the basis of how the company has actually performed. Crisis management is the process of handling a high-impact event characterized by ambiguity and the need for swift action. Some researchers describe an organization’s progress through a prodromal, or precrisis, stage to the acute stage, chronic stage, and finally, crisis resolution. Stakeholders need a quick response with information about how the company plans to resolve the crisis, as well as what they can do to mitigate negative effects to themselves. It is also necessary to communicate specific issues to stakeholder groups, including remorse for the event, guidelines as to how the organization is going to address the crisis, and criteria regarding how stakeholder groups will be compensated for negative effects. Companies are searching for ways to develop long-term, collaborative relationships with their stakeholders. These relationships involve both tangible and intangible investments. Investments and lessons learned through the process of developing a dialog and relationship with one stakeholder should add value to other stakeholder relationships. These efforts result in social capital, an asset that resides in relationships and is characterized by mutual goals and trust. The first step in developing stakeholder relationships is to acknowledge and actively monitor the concerns of all legitimate stakeholders. A firm should adopt processes and modes of behavior that are sensitive to the concerns and capabilities of each stakeholder. Information should be communicated consistently across all stakeholders. A firm should be willing to acknowledge and openly address potential conflicts. Investments in education, training, and information will improve employees’ understanding of and relationships with stakeholders. Relationships with stakeholders need to be periodically assessed through both formal and informal means. Sharing feedback with stakeholders helps establish the two-way dialog that characterizes the stakeholder model. An organization that develops effective corporate governance and understands the importance of business ethics and social responsibility in achieving success should develop some processes for managing these important concerns. Although there are many different approaches, we provide some steps that have been found effective to utilize the stakeholder framework in managing responsibility and business ethics. The steps include (1) assessing the corporate culture, (2) identifying stakeholder groups, (3) identifying stakeholder issues, (4) assessing the organization’s commitment to social responsibility, (5) identifying resources and determining urgency, and (6) gaining stakeholder feedback. The importance of these steps is to include feedback from relevant stakeholders in formulating organizational strategy and implementation. The Reactive-Defensive-Accommodative-Proactive Scale provides a method for assessing a company’s strategy and performance with one stakeholder. The reactive approach involves denying responsibility and doing less than is required. The defensive approach acknowledges only reluctantly and partially the responsibility issues that may be raised by the firm’s stakeholders. The accommodative strategy attempts to satisfy stakeholder demands. The proactive approach accepts and anticipates stakeholder interests. Results from this stakeholder assessment should be included in the social audit, which assesses and reports a firm’s performance in fulfilling the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic social responsibilities expected of it by its stakeholders.
